WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – A section of Merriman Road in Westland closed for bridge construction in January 2023 and it’s still closed.
The closure of Merriman Road at Edward N Hines Drive has been frustrating for drivers and businesses in the area. It was supposed to be open months ago, but construction was delayed.
Road commission explains delay
Construction was delayed because the bridge needed to be redesigned in the middle of the project.
According to the Wayne County Road Commission, “While installing the cofferdam for the bridge abutments, difficulties arose due to a nearby sanitary line running parallel to Merriman Road, which meant additional design and planning was required to ensure safe construction of the bridge. So, essentially, the bridge needed to be redesigned mid-project.”
The road commission apologized for the delay.
Status of repairs
The road resurfacing portion of the project is finished on Merriman Road between James Avenue and Warren Road. Now, the bridge that goes over the Rouge River needs to be finished.
Construction is expected to be finished by the end of the year, as long as crews don’t run into any more problems. The road commission does not expect any other problems to arise.
Businesses hurt by closure
Jeff Kassab manages the Handy Mart across the street from the closure and said that business has been way down.
“I know it as ‘the day they screwed my business over,’” Kassab said. “There is no traffic flow besides my regular customers. Thank God for them, but there’s no new faces because there’s no traffic here. It’s just dead.”
Kassab said that when Merriman Road was open, the Handy Mart would see new customers every day stopping in for a quick bite to eat.
“A lot more airport traffic, just people you’ve never seen before popping in, but everybody avoids this area,” Kassab said.
Drivers told Local 4 that with Merriman closed getting to the other side of the Rouge River can take up to a half an hour instead of a quick two minutes.
“Pretty inconvenient, you know, because there’s a lot of time shoot up Merriman and you can’t do it, you know, then it is hurting the local business here. There’s a guy over here with Merriman restaurant, you know, it practically killed him,” Livonia resident Frank Psaila said.
“It’ll be okay eventually, because the old bridge in the winter, every Monday I come to work there’d be seven cars in my lot with tires busted out from the potholes. That’s how bad it was,” Kassab said.
Kassab said he expects his business to recover. He said the Handy Mart been there for 28 years and they’re still going.